Gaia's Awakening
by Xeenith
Summary: In a apocalyptic world, Ranma and his friends fight for their own life and freedom. RanmaDBZGT FusionAlteverse reuploaded all chapter, chap 6 had a screw up.
1. How this sad adventure started

" " are talking  
' ' are quotes  
{ } are thoughts  
---  
Gaia's Awakening  
---  
  
"I have realized, for a while now, that my human memories are fading  
and are becoming more and more confused with time. Before it reaches  
a critical state, I have decided to secure my past so that it will  
never be forgotten. It is not that I can die, but I travel so much  
that I tend to forget coming back to some places for decades. So  
here is the story of me and my friends."  
  
"It all started a little before the year 2000, 50 years  
after the coup d'etat of Ma Yuan, who governs since then as the  
self proclaimed 'World Master'. We were then called 'mutants', and  
hunted down by his soldiers, officially named 'agents of the new  
peace', but better known by their nickname of 'beetles', coming  
from their first armor's design."  
  
"What's a 'mutant' I already hear you asking? Let me begin by  
describing the 'Gaia Amber'. It's pure condensed energy, which  
takes the form of a faintly luminescent, white crystal. It's formed  
by what we called 'Chtonergy', the planet's vital energy, that  
sometimes escapes up past the surface by rare sources. While rather  
similar in its effects, it is not the chi that powered being like us  
wakens can use."  
  
"If a human touches the 'Amber', it will dissolve as the person absorb   
its energy. He or she then becomes a 'Waken', a name that fits   
perfectly to the situation, as the person is awaked to the fantastic   
potential that exists in all human beings. From that time forward, you   
have no limits, provided that you work hard to constantly push them   
back."  
  
"My friend and I had become Wakens in this period. The exact time  
has vanished from my memories long ago. So where did the 'mutant'  
name come from? From the single weak point of the Wakens : the  
Amber that made us what we are."  
  
"Touching the Amber a second time results in a manifold increase  
in the Waken's power, but it also turns him into a bloody-minded  
beast, craving destruction. This resulted in all of us Wakens being  
labeled with the epithet, 'Mutant'."  
  
"The human population was easily the majority with the low number of  
wakens at this time. This due the fact that the Amber was very rare.  
The humans feared greatly these insane wakens. The response of their  
fear was to enlist all the Wakens as 'mutants' and a danger to their  
society."  
  
"Being a waken of great power, Ma Yuan had no problems to make the  
governments to submit to his will. And when he came to power, he  
created his beetle army, who are nothing more than lobotomized wakens.  
Of course, to be able to affirm his power, he never revealed that he   
and his army were indeed wakens."  
  
"To gain the people trust, he launched his beetles in a large Waken  
hunt, claiming that they were captured and destroyed, but secretly  
converting them to extend his army troops more and more."  
  
"We Wakens hid ourselves hoping to be able to live relatively  
normally, and to be able to escape all capture attempts by the  
beetles. Because the same fate they suffered was awaiting us."  
  
"As interesting as are some details, I will begin my tale to the  
point where all has really started for me : these terrible  
events occurred towards the end of a ten years training journey.  
My father took me in this journey when we only little boy, so that  
I could someday inherit his martial arts school."  
  
"My father had told me that I was engaged at birth, a pact of honor  
with his best friend to unit their twin schools of the Anything  
Goes martial arts, the Tendo and the Saotome branches. I might as  
well say that the information wasn't well received."  
  
"As if my family honor meant anything in that times when events were  
rushing us and the world. So it was nonetheless decided later that I  
would go visit this family to clear the situation, while the others  
would stay there, ."  
  
"That day's details aren't very clear in my mind because I wasn't  
there myself. The journey itself wasn't all that hard for us, not  
to be detected was more of a challenge, but we managed."  
  
"When we arrived to destination, it was raining. Trivial? Sure, but  
for some of us, it means cold water, and cold water means change. We   
had then what was called a curse that changed our shape to the simple  
touch of cold water, a little hot water was enough to change back  
to our real selves."  
  
"It is that way that we landed at our destination, the Tendo dojo,  
as a fiery red haired young girl and a little black pig. Not even a  
second after coming in, we immediately felt a power, for we had  
developed the ability to feel the others wakens and measure their  
power. How this person had escaped the detectors, we never found  
out."  
  
"This is how our meeting went..."  
  
---  
  
"Ranma! It's him!" said Nabiki while running toward the home  
entrance, her father close behind her.  
  
"Saotome! How long did I wait for you!"  
  
When they reached the entrance, they found only a young girl with  
bright red hair tied in a pigtail, dressed with a sleeveless chinese  
shirt colored the same red as her hair, black pants and black  
combat bracers. She had a little black pig with a black and yellow  
bandana in her arms.  
  
"Would... you...be...?" asked Sound Tendo, pointing her with his   
finger.  
  
"Ranma Saotome!" she answered.  
  
"Finally! You are here!" he said, taking the girl in his arms... or  
rather trying to, because she had backed off to escape the hug.  
  
"Excuse me, but before the presentations, can we have some hot water  
please?"  
  
"Sure. I'll go get some." Kasumi happily responded before vanishing  
in the direction of the kitchen.  
  
"I have something to show you first. It'll make the rest easier."  
she explained, staying in constant distance between her and her host.  
  
"Where is Genma?" asked the Tendo father.  
  
"He is not with us, but I will explain all at the same time." she   
answered him, a sad smile on her lips.  
  
"There!" said Kasumi while giving a warm kettle to Ranma.  
  
"Thanks." She said, taking the kettle. "Okay, I have something to  
show you all before I explain. Don't be too surprised." and then she  
poured a little hot water on her head. Immediately, her hair darkened,  
she grew a little, lost her curves and gained more corpulence. When  
she spoke, her voice was deeper. "You seemed to miss it, but I was a  
girl until now. I have a curse, and like you just saw, hot water  
cancels its effects." she, now a he, explained while entering the   
house.  
  
She put down her bag, the kettle and the pig in another room and then  
closed it. "My friend here, name's Ryoga Hibiki, has the same   
problem... let's give him a few moments to get dressed and then I will   
start the explanation."  
  
Effectively, a short moment later another young boy did exit the room,  
dressed in a yellow sleeveless shirt, dark green pants and the same  
bandana as the pig.  
  
"We came to settle the honor pact between our two families... but  
there is now a more pressing problem I'm afraid." announced Ranma  
while pointing to Akane.  
  
"You're right. How did she escape the detectors?" asked Ryoga,  
looking the youngest sister up and down.  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Akane, backing off from the boys   
slightly.  
  
"Ranma? What do you mean?" questioned Soun.  
  
"M. Tendo, I got a sad new for you. You daughter is in danger.  
Her presence here alone is putting your WHOLE family in danger."  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Nabiki, her anger at the two  
boys increasing. How dare they come here to say such insanities?!  
  
"Don't tell me that you never saw how much stronger she got  
recently..." said Ryoga unbelieving.  
  
"If the beetles find her..." added Ranma.  
  
"The beetles?!" exploded Nabiki. "What do you want the beetles to  
have to do with my sister?"  
  
"What do you think? What's their jobs?" Ryoga asked her with a cold  
glare.  
  
"To hunt the... mutants?" she ended her sentence in a whisper,  
understanding what the boys are trying to tell. "You want to tell  
that... she..."  
  
"...muted? yup." Ranma answered.  
  
"No! NO!" Akane started to cry, trembling with fear and rage.  
  
"KEEP YOUR CALM!" howled Ranma suddenly. "It's not that catastrophic.  
ALL mutants are not dangerous. Only a few of us lose their mind during  
their awakening." The wanted effect, to calm everybody, was easily  
done by his confession. But the realization that the Tendos were  
chatting 'calmly' with what were supposed to be blood craving beasts  
shocked them greatly.  
  
"What do you know about the mutants, anyway?" asked Nabiki, noting  
the 'us' that used Ranma.  
  
"First, we don't call ourselves 'mutants', but 'wakens'. We are not  
monsters to be hunted, but what the whole humanity would have been  
if it was in harmony with the Earth." start to explain Ryoga.  
  
"It's the life energy of the planet itself, the Chtonergy that causes  
what we call the 'awakening'. It breaks the human limits and raises  
us to a higher level of existence. Your daughter is not a monster.  
She just has to avoid touching the Amber again." Ranma continued  
the explanation.  
  
"The... Amber?" ask Akane.  
  
"Yeah. I suppose that you found recently a white luminescent stone,  
and that it dissolved when you took it. This stone is a highly  
condensed mass of the planet's life energy, and it's that that makes  
us wakens. On the other hand, if we were to touch it a second time,  
your power would grow so much that you would snap and become the  
feared 'mutants'."  
  
"Sadly, our friend the World Master has enlisted all of us alike.  
But what do you think are the beetles? They are like us, but they  
are under mind control to insure their loyalty... And the destruction  
of mutants by the beetles is just a cover, those arrested are  
converted." added Ryoga.  
  
"And all the civilians that could identify the newly converted  
beetles are mercilessly slaughtered. So I repeat : your daughter  
is putting your whole family in danger. We came for the engagement,  
but you understand that if your family was to be massacred by the  
'agents of the new peace', the union between our families wouldn't  
mean anything."  
  
"What... will happen to me?" Akane ask them. "I don't want..."  
  
"None of us want it. That's why we are fighting against this tyrant."  
Ranma said while taking off his bracers, showing two large burns on  
the inside of his wrists : a dragon on the right arm and a tiger on  
the left one.  
  
Only Nabiki gasped at this sight. "We have joined a resistance  
group, but it was destroyed. We then discovered a pontificated Amazon  
village. We joined them in their battle for freedom. In China, ten  
percent of the total population is awakened. But this village is a  
special training camp composed only of wakens." said Ranma as he put  
his bracers back on.  
  
"M. Tendo... You must entrust us with your daughter. She will be well  
formed there and she will be able to defend herself against the  
beetles, should they get to her." Ryoga told him sadly.  
  
"But... but... the engagement, the union of the schools..." sobbed  
the mustached man.  
  
"Enough! What do you believe is the most vital? Think of all the  
people, wakens or not, that died at the hand of this tyrant of World  
Master. Comparatively to the freedom of millions of persons, what   
importance can have the unification of two martial schools?" asked   
Ranma furiously.  
  
"He is right." whisper Akane. "I don't have a choice. If I stay here,   
they'll find me and then they'll kill all of you... I... I could not   
live knowing I was the cause of your deaths."  
  
"Perfect! You did the good choice." declared Ryoga. "He, he, he... I   
just got an idea. The engagement is still possible. Since Akane is   
coming with us..."  
  
"What!? You're supposed to be on my side Ryoga!" shouted Ranma,  
letting a part of his power escape under the shock. "Argh! Am I  
stupid or what. Here I am nearly shouting my position.... stupid..."  
Ranma started to lament.  
  
"Damn! Quick! Our time is short now..." Ryoga turned toward Akane.  
"Go get some clothing, we are leaving immediately!"  
  
"But..."  
  
"NOW!" Ryoga shouted at the girl.  
  
"Stupid... That was just plain stupid..." Ranma was still lamenting.  
  
"What's the big deal?" asked Nabiki, not understanding the sudden   
change in mood.  
  
"I let my power escape my control for a short moment. If a beetle  
patrol detects the outburst, they will be here in a matter of minutes.  
We need to..." he stopped himself as if he heard a sound. "That's it,  
they are coming... Three, it will be easy. Ryoga, you take her with  
you and leave first while I give you some time." He walked in the  
garden, and waited near the koi pond there.  
  
"Be careful, Ranma!" Ryoga said to his friend.  
  
"Pff, this is just three little beetles. Hide your power as much as  
you can, so I will be the only one detected. I'll relieve myself of  
this patrol, then I do a little trouble on this district to help mix  
up the tracks." He said, grinning.  
  
"See ya at the village then. And don't forget, next time, they're   
mine."  
  
Ranma was soon glowing an ethereal blue. Akane was back from her room,  
a full sport bag under her arm. Without losing a second, Ryoga took  
her is his arms and left the house running at unbelievable speed. He  
disappeared from sight just as three blue armored men come flying  
down the sky in the garden, facing Ranma.  
  
"Hum... aura 90?" said one of them.  
  
"Impressive, boy, but you will need more to beat us." added another  
one.  
  
Ranma took a combat stance and began to focus.  
  
"Come on, I don't have time to spare." He said before launching a  
straight attack against one of his opponent. Surprised by the speed  
of the 'boy', the beetle was not able to dodge the punch and was hit  
in the face, the blow crushing his skull and his cervical with an  
horrible sound. Ranma took his bloody hand off the now dead beetle,  
and turned to face the other two.  
  
"Grr! You scum! You were hiding your power... aura : 150 ? No...  
you must be-gargl." finished the second one when Ranma used the  
distraction to crush his larynx with the same bloody hand. His other  
hand hit the last one like the thunder and pierced his heart, quickly  
ending the short carnage.  
  
"I must make it quick, more will arrive soon!" Ranma said to himself.  
"M. Tendo, I'm going now. When they arrive, tell them the truth : two  
mutants came, kidnapped your daughter and then fled back. We will  
return to visit when the situation has calmed itself. I promise on my  
honor that I will take care of Akane as best as I can. Farewell!"  
  
Ranma gently raised into the air. He then flew up the sky and vanished  
quickly in the clouds, leaving a father crying his family's separation  
with one of their members. But he was comforted in the knowledge that  
she was in the good hands of her fiancee and that as long as she would  
be with him, nothing could possibly happen to her.  
  
---  
Prologue end  
--- 


	2. Chapter 1 : Amazon trial

---  
Gaia's Awakening  
---  
" " is for speaking  
' ' is for quotes in talks  
{ } is for thoughts  
---  
Chapter 1  
---  
  
Akane was on the end of the cave. After the much needed traps, spikes,  
boulders, she was a the end of the cave. The only obstacle between her  
and the exit was a big cauldron. After inspection, she noted that it  
was full of boiling water.  
  
{I need to push it in some way}  
  
But the metal was way to hot to touch it, burning her skin.  
  
{I can't possibly use those damn handles! They are as hot as the  
cauldron itself!!}  
  
And yet it seemed like she had not the choice. Gathering her bravery,  
she tentatively put her forearms under the handles on each side of the   
big cauldron.  
  
"Ouch! That's way to hot... I can't do it!" She said aloud.  
  
"Giving up?" she heard from the other side of the boulder. "You have  
the right to, if you think you can't handle it."  
  
"Never!" she nearly shouted back. "I'll do it!"  
  
Again, she gathered all her bravery and she added her rage to it.  
She took the handles, burning badly her arms. And in one short effort,  
she pushed the cauldron enough to let her exit the cave.  
  
"Good... You succeeded the trials. For now on, you are now one of us,   
a proud Amazon warrior. Congratulations, child." Akane recognized the  
voice, the one of the grand mistress of the Amazons, the Matriarch,  
Cologne.  
  
"Thank you very much, Elder." She looked then at the burning marks on   
her forearms, somewhat not as surprised as the thought she would have   
be : a dragon mark on the right arm and a tiger one on the left, like   
all the Amazons.  
  
"These are our marks, child. You'll be able to heal them sometime in   
the future, but if you do, you will cease to be one of us." The lady   
showed Akane her own arms, revealing the same burns. "Like you know, I   
could heal them if I wanted to, but this is our sigil. Be proud of   
them. They are the symbol of the Taoism religion we follow here."  
  
Nodding her understanding, Akane let herself to be showed the path to  
return to the village.  
  
"You have mastered the powers you already got, child. But you have a  
long way to go to catch up to others."  
  
"Hum... Ranma said that I have awakened not long ago."  
  
"Yes, he is quite powerful now, he apparently have awakened himself  
quite a long time ago now... but know that I'm a waken myself since   
the Armageddon."  
  
Akane gaped to this information. The Elder was awakened 50 years ago?  
But how? She couldn't be more than 40 years old... Cologne seeing  
Akane's face smirked at her.  
  
"Unbelievable, isn't it? You'll see by yourself that being a waken is   
much more that the power itself. I need only a couple hours of sleep   
to be totally refreshed and I barely eat at all... and my aging   
started to slow down several years ago."  
  
Akane head was now spinning. Between these informations and the stress  
of the test, she was completely drained.  
  
"Don't worry child, you are not at this stage of your evolution...   
yet. For now, you must increase your power and help us to beat this   
prideful tyrant." Her eyes gleamed with a cold spark. "He dares to   
insult all of us like this. The Amazons cannot accept the fate of   
being only a hunted prey. Soon... soon we will be ready, and then it   
will be time for payback."  
  
With this, the Elder vanished from Akane's view, knowing the girl   
could return back to the village by herself now.  
  
Akane stayed a short moment there, just standing, her mind lost. When  
she was done, she resumed her pace. A feast was due to celebrate her  
success.  
  
---  
  
The traditional acceptance feast was a buffet and, for Ranma, it meant   
an 'all-you-can-grab' buffet. While he pleasured himself by vacuuming   
food, the Amazons were busy chatting with their new sister : Akane.   
Ryoga was too shy to approach her, even if the desire to do so was  
burning through him.  
  
Akane quickly became good friend with Shampoo, the village's best  
warrior, elders excluded. Now that they were in good relations, Akane  
built the courage to ask Shampoo a question that plagued her.  
  
"Shampoo, you had to pass the trial too, right?"  
  
"Yes. That was a few years ago."  
  
"I wanted to ask you about the last cave before the cauldron...   
something was giving me the creeps but there was nothing there."  
  
"If you had come here before Ranma passed his trial, you would have   
seen why. There was another trial in the trial, in that last cave. You   
would have fought your inners demons there. You know about our curses,   
right?"  
  
"Yeah, you turn into a cat, Ryoga into a black little pig and Ranma   
into a girl."  
  
"Correct. Ranma's curse affected the test somewhat. So, in place of  
fighting his inner demons, he fought his dark inner self. We don't   
know for sure what happened, even Ranma don't remember. But he was   
somewhat changed when he passed the cauldron test."  
  
"Changed? How?"   
  
"Hmm... He's still a little immature, but he seems to enjoy his life a   
lot more. He used to have a very bad fear of cats, and now he controls   
the dreaded Nekoken that made him thinking like a cat when he used it   
before. The Elders investigated the cave, the magic of the cave used   
for the test was completely dried up... so this test can't be used   
anymore. You had it easy Akane... maybe you wouldn't have succeeded it   
if that test was still active." Shampoo teased Akane with a big grin.  
  
"Yeah, right... whatever. Why didn't the Elders cast a new spell in   
the cave?"  
  
"The cave was enchanted several millenias ago. The first Amazons found   
the case already enchanted." she shrugged her shoulders, and resumed   
eating while a few things were left unanswered.  
  
---  
  
"Come on Ryoga! Don't tell me you are stuffed yet!! There is plenty  
more." shouted Ranma to the lost boy. "You lost your appetite, lost  
boy?" Ranma then resumed eating at his normal pace, that is : for a  
waken of the Saotome school of eating-all-you-can-at-an-all-you-can-  
eat-buffet, very secret technique.  
  
"Argh! shut up! Stuff you face so that I can't hear you, will you? And  
I DO NOT get lost that much, thank you." replied Ryoga.  
  
"Ranma, munch don't tease him, munch he got better for that.  
munch" Elder Cologne came to Ryoga's defense.  
  
"Hu... thanks." Ryoga replied, blushing that the Matriarch herself   
took his defense.  
  
---  
  
"They are at it again."  
  
"Akane, you know they love each others like siblings. They just tease  
each others for fun."  
  
"Well, it look like pretty stupid to me, Shampoo."  
  
"You have not seen my Amazon sisters just before a tournament. This is  
nothing."  
  
Akane looks at Shampoo like she had grown a second head. Well, at  
least, her new life promise to be anything but dull.  
  
"Speaking of them, where are theirs parents? Your father cooks at your  
home and your mother is dead, but I didn't heard a word on theirs..."  
  
"For Ryoga, it's easy : they are lost somewhere on earth. Only his  
awakening allows Ryoga to stay near the village, near enough not to   
get lost anyway."  
  
"It can't be THAT bad?"  
  
"Akane, Ranma told me once that Ryoga could get lost in a room with  
only a door and no windows. I can assure you it must have been pretty   
much the case before his awakening. Because since he came here, he got   
a lot better, even if there is still a lot of room for improvement."  
  
"Oh... and Ranma's parents? His father is a friend of mine."  
  
"His mother could be dead for all we know. His father, on the  
other hand... it's a sore spot for him..."  
  
"He is dead?"  
  
"Worse, Akane, for us anyway. He had willingly joined the beetle   
troops."  
  
"What? Why would he do that? He left Ranma here alone?"  
  
"No. He'd have taken Ranma with him, by force if necessary, but Elder  
Cologne chassed Genma before he could get Ranma."  
  
"Thanks for telling me. I will be able to avoid the mistake of  
mentioning it to them."  
  
"The big problem is, when we'll be ready to attack, we might face him.  
I hope Ranma get strong enough to hold his own against his father."  
  
"Genma is that powerful? Cologne beat him still, no?"  
  
"Yeah, but Elder Cologne is more powerful than what we can imagine.  
Genma and Ranma awakened at the same time, but Ranma was very young  
then, and so Genma's power grew faster than Ranma's at first. I could   
bet that Ranma is increasing his power faster than anyone here   
nowadays."  
  
"Let's hope it'll suffice".  
  
"Yeah."  
  
---  
  
And so, the training continued. Harder than ever, pressing each Amazon  
well further their limits. Accenting each one advantage. Ryoga's  
resistance to damages and resistance, Ranma's speed and nekoken,   
Akane's raw strength, Shampoo's agility.   
  
And so, the attack of the enemies' land was planned. I didn't take   
that long to leave. only the bests were sent to gather information.   
Elder Cologne would finish the warriors' training while Ranma and the   
others were doing their researches.  
  
The travel was quick, thanks to the feeble amount of sleep and food  
needed. Ma Yuan being based in Los Angeles in the USA, the Amazon   
scout party decided to go to the States to test theirs powers, but far   
enough of Los Angeles. No Amazon was allowed to go there yet. Ranma's   
scouting party was sent to test their powers, so that they would know   
how they rank against the beetles.  
  
---  
  
"Guys, hide your auras. We need to appear to be slightly less powerful  
than them." Ranma said, dressed in his trademark red chinese shirt  
with black trousers and black combat bracers.  
  
"Pfff.. Ranma, don't tell us something we already know. We want to   
know just how much we can beat them." snarled Ryoga in his yellow   
shirt and dark green pant, with his trademark yellow and black   
bandana.  
  
"They don't search for power below 50 anyway... so as long as we stay  
on human level, we are safe." Ranma pointed.  
  
"Human level, Ranma? we are at what can be qualified to the top best   
of the human level. No human can really get to this level..." Shampoo   
wore the Amazon battle suit, colored in white and pink.  
  
"In any case, we are there. This seems to be their quarter in this  
village." Akane choose to dress in a yellow gi, a remembrance of her  
past 'normal' life.  
  
"Good job Akane. Hum... I think there is a squad leader in there."  
  
"Yeah... who get it?" asked Ranma, a cocky grin on his face.  
  
"The first to get to him, who else..." answered Ryoga, a big smile on  
his lips.  
  
"Less talk, more fight!" announced Shampoo. "We go now!" and she  
started her run along the street, straight toward the inn where are   
the beetles.  
  
"Ooo-kay, we follow I think..." commented Ranma before rushing after   
Shampoo.  
  
"Then think quickly, first there gets all the fun!!"  
shouted Ryoga while dashing behind her purple haired friend.  
  
---  
  
Inside the inn, a detector began to scream, but way too late, as the   
wall was caved in and then exploded to reveal a cute purple haired   
girl, holding two bonboris.  
  
Before the three beetles could even blink, Shampoo charged one of them  
and stroked with her mace, hard. The beetle desperately tried to block  
the blow, but the mace wasn't even slowed when it crushed his blue  
armor, sternum and ribs with the same ease, killing him.  
  
One of the two other beetles jumped on Shampoo to punch her in the   
face, but she side-stepped him like she didn't even mean to and   
crashed her mace down his skull, imploding it. She then struck the   
last one with a double hit with both maces, crushing him like an empty   
bottle.  
  
Satisfied with her handy work, she broke the next wall, not even   
seeing the door on her left.  
  
---  
  
Akane, surprisingly, was the first to enter the inn by the door. But  
she was noticed by the two beetles guarding it. Her fear was  
immediately replaced by rage as her veins were flooded by adrenaline.  
She charged the first guard.  
  
Her punch was strong and, as she managed to actually hit her opponent   
on the stomach, she hurt him bad, shattering his armor, expulsing the   
air from his lungs. Even if the beetle refused to go down, he still   
had to sit down, gasping for air.  
  
The second one attacked her while she relished on her semi-victory.   
She backed of trying to dodge, but she was hit on her shoulder, just  
bruised from the blow.  
  
Pushing a scream of pure rage, she uppercut her aggressor on the gut,  
unprotected by the parts of his armor, effectively decapitating the   
man and sending his free head flying on the opposing wall, making a   
nasty blood trail on it's path and on the wall.  
  
{Oh my God! I killed him. I didn't want to... No... no, no, no !!}  
  
Unknown to her, the gasping beetle had recovered and prepared to   
strike her from behind. It might have been the case if Ryoga wasn't  
supervising her. Luckily for Akane, it was the case and the beetle saw   
his life end from quick blood loss when a flying bandana went to   
severe the arm he tried to hit Akane with.  
  
"Akane!"  
  
"Oh Ryoga! Don't look at me... I killed him, I'm a murderer. I'm not  
better than them..." she said sobbing.  
  
"Stop this nonsense at once, Akane. I killed more than I wished to.   
I'm as much a killer as you, if you want to look at it like that."  
  
"Why...?"  
  
"Uh?"  
  
"Why do we need to do this? Fighting is okay, but do we need to kill  
them?"  
  
"Hell! They are more fighting machines than human being. If I'm ever  
converted, I want someone to kill me. I refuse to be reduced to   
this... this pathetic excuse of a human."  
  
"But..."  
  
"No buts, Akane, do you want them to kill your family?"  
  
"N...no."  
  
"Then, help us. If you can't or don't want to kill, stay at the  
village. But then you won't be able to defend your loved ones."  
  
"Why do you fight Ryoga?"  
  
"I wish I could say that it's to defend my family, but I barely know  
them, being lost and all... No, I fight for my friends, and my new  
family, the Amazons. Come on, follow me and cover my back. I want a  
part of the leader too..." he finished with a big grin.  
  
"Yeah... sorry. I was not as prepared as I thought I was."  
  
"I know, Akane. I know." He then resumed to invest the inn, a single  
tear on his cheek, unseen by Akane.  
  
---  
  
Ranma used his flying abilities to get to the second story of the   
building and tried to get a feel on the strongest aura. A few nekoken   
slashes later, he crashed the walls.  
  
{If I want some fun, that's the only way to go, it's too packed   
downstairs for my taste.}  
  
As soon as he entered, he saw two things : the only man on the room   
was sitting at his desk and dressed in a brown battle suit, very alike   
the blue beetles. The second thing was that this man's power level was   
truly higher than the others ones, meaning he was the leader.  
  
"Found you." announced happily Ranma.  
  
"Fools. Maybe you are strong enough to kill beetles likes bees. But  
you'll find that I'm not like them." The man stood and took a battle  
stance, holding a sword.  
  
"Come get me!" Ranma dared him, getting ready too.  
  
"You amuse me. I'm a Justicer."  
  
"And you have a big mouth."  
  
Ranma zapped the distance between him and the brown armored guy in a  
blink, trying his defense with a simple hit on the jaw. He succeed in  
hitting but didn't make much damage.  
  
"Good... I feared you wouldn't even entertain me. Apparently, you'll   
do fine." Ranma said.  
  
"Puny rebel..." howled the Justicer while wiping a little blood from  
his mouth.  
  
"Want more? You just have to ask!" teased Ranma just before launching  
another simple attack. This time, his opponent moved out of the fist's  
path at the last second.  
  
"Well, that's better. And how's that?" continued Ranma.  
  
This time, Ranma's body itself seemed to blur while he hit the man   
just bellow the chest armor.  
  
"Urgh... cough You dare?"  
  
"You're funny, ya know? Just a moment before, you were sure that you  
were going to crush me... Now that's not gonna happen. Bye!"  
  
This time, Ranma hit the armor and it absorb all the damages.  
  
{Damn. I might have to take better care of my aim.}  
  
The brown soldier, seeing an opening, slashed with his sword. Seeing   
he would not be able to evade, Ranma poured as much chi as he could in   
his left hand and caught the blade. While the Justicer was asking   
himself how this rebel could have caught his blade bare handed, Ranma   
was using this time to pour chi in his free hand.  
  
The chi powered blow was perfectly calculated to hit the  
unprotected jaw, pushed forward when Ranma pulled the blade in his   
left hand. The man went flying into the wall. He got back up with   
difficulty.  
  
"Ready for more, pal?" {Damn, I'm near my limit. I can't go with chi  
powered blows like that forever. Maybe allowing the others a little  
fun? Well, if they manage to get their asses here in time, that is.  
Wait? He can't even stand by himself?} "This is the final blow!"  
shouted Ranma while he threw himself at the Justicer, both his fists  
glowing blue. "Kachu Tenshin Amagouriken!"  
  
Ranma pummeled the barely standing man in the torso and face a few  
hundred times, making him to lose the last of his consciousness.  
  
"Pfiou... It was harder than I thought it would be." Ranma  
acknowledged, panting from his chi massive loss in his last action.  
  
Shampoo entered the room, looking as fresh as before the start of  
the battle.  
  
"Aiya! Too late."  
  
"Eh. He was nearly as tough as Ryoga. A good match."  
  
"Really?" Shampoo asked him, surprised and disappointed at the same   
time.  
  
"Yeah. Justicer, my ass. If one of us is able to defeat them in a one  
on one fight, we won't have to wait too long before our attack."  
  
"Yeah. But you didn't finished him..."  
  
"Didn't have time... Damn armors."  
  
"Hey... you just gave me an idea."  
  
"Hu?"  
  
"Let's take theirs armors, some might be salvageable and we can use   
the protection."  
  
"Why not... It's not like he actually hit me, but I'm the fastest, and  
maybe the others won't have as much luck as me. Hey look!"  
  
"A sword? Maybe I will add it to my collection?" He told him with a   
smile.  
  
"Yeah. Let's get out of here... Let me finish him and take his   
uniform. We might have a need for it later." he said, using the sword   
to behead the Justicer.  
  
---  
  
Amazon village, return of the scout party.  
  
"So, children. How are things doing?" asked Elder Cologne.  
  
"Their Justicers are tough. As much as us. The beetles nonetheless are  
like weaklings now." announced Ranma.  
  
"Hum... and what is this?" she asked, pointing to a large pile of   
clothes.  
  
"We kinda stole some uniforms... It might come in handy..." answered  
Ranma, grinning cockily.  
  
"Well done. I think that you can now go prepare our arrival to our  
nemesis' hive."  
  
"We can leave as soon as we are ready."  
  
"The use of the beetle uniforms can help you to get in the city."  
  
"We won't disappoint you, Elder." promised Ryoga.  
  
The next morning, the group was once again leaving the village,  
planning a new step needed before the final battle.  
  
---  
  
End of Chapter 1  
Next chapter : infiltration in Los Angeles, someone return when he is  
the least needed. Genma and Ranma, a fight between father and son.  
--- 


	3. Chapter 2 : Battle between father and so...

Gaia's Awakening  
---  
" " are for speaking  
' ' are for quotes in talks  
{ } are for thoughts  
---  
Chapter 2  
---  
  
This new journey to the USA, Los Angeles to be exact, was a little   
shorter than the last one. The party knew the way now. The hardest   
part would be the infiltration itself...  
  
So, just before arriving at the city, the group used the stolen beetle   
uniforms, Ranma using the Justicers' brown version.  
  
Dressed like this, it was easy to enter the city. No civilian would   
dare to oppose one of the "agents of the new peace", and specially not   
a group returning from a mission. Not knowing exactly where was the   
nearest garrison, they had to ask someone.  
  
"Excuse me!" shouted Ranma in the street they where in. "We are from   
out of town and we'd like to know where is the nearest guard post!"  
  
Nobody could work the courage to answer the soldiers.  
  
"Hurry! We haven't all the day!" Ranma added after seeing nobody would  
answer him.  
  
"D-down this road and..." someone finally started to mumble.  
  
"And?" asked Ranma authoritatively.  
  
"A-and you'll see a g-great building at y-your left..." the small man  
finished with trouble.  
  
"Thank you." Was all Ranma said before the Amazonian party started to   
walk toward their next destination.  
  
---  
  
The building was effectively higher than the others, easily five   
stories. Its entrance was guarded by two beetles who, seeing the group   
coming toward them, engaged a talk.  
  
"Stop! Where are you from?" asked one of the guards.  
  
"We are the last survivors from an attack on a city, somewhere south   
from here. Having nowhere to go, we came back here to receive new   
orders." Explained Ranma, being the apparent leader of the group with   
his brown armor.  
  
"How much were the attackers?" asked the other guard to add in his   
report, officers just loved details in a repot.  
  
"Well, we didn't really have time to count them, but after two thirds   
of my men were killed, I knew that we couldn't win. They seemed   
chinese though." Answered Ranma, their covert carefully planned all   
the way from China.  
  
"Okay. Go see the Justicer in there. He'll give you your new   
assignments." Acknowledged the first guard and allowing them to enter.  
  
"Thanks. Guys, follow me." Ranma 'ordered' to his troops.  
  
While Ranma went to talk to the Justicer ruling this district, the   
others 1disguised Amazons waited for him in the main guard room.  
  
The local Justicer bought the story as easily as his guards, and soon   
the Amazon elite could travel to the local training center, at the   
request of Ranma.  
  
The Justicer didn't want to grant his comrade's, but Ranma pointed   
that he lost more than half his troops, so he needed to train them   
some more before he could safely guard another city.  
  
---  
  
This new travel, even if it wouldn't get them closer to the   
headquarters, would be a great chance to gather informations. It   
brought them into another district, close to the downtown.  
  
The training center itself was not as impressive as the guard post.   
Only two stories. But the area it occupied was easily ten times   
larger. The group came to a halt when the reached the main door, with   
two guards.  
  
"Hi! Here is my training order." Told Ranma to a guard while giving   
him the authorization signed by the post's Justicer.  
  
The guard studied the document, then he allowed the group in. Ranma   
took back the paper and the Amazons entered the complex.  
  
---  
  
Knowing they needed to be as careful as possible, the Amazons stayed   
there, 'training' in their reduced power level. They knew that their   
presence here would soon become suspicious so they'd have to act   
quickly.  
  
There hadn't been no attack on a city southern from there, after all.   
But the little time they were earning was precious, they learned a lot   
on the beetles. THAT was the goal of this mission.  
  
By now, they knew the exact location of the main headquarter. Ma   
Yuan's hive. But there was more... They learned that there was another   
rank of beetle above the Justicers : the War Princes. If they could   
see a War Prince's power level, they would have another ace on their   
sleeves for the upcoming war.  
  
And so Ranma brought together his friends to discuss a plan. They   
needed to know where to find one of these War Princes. The plan was   
simple : if a beetle was too powerful, he needed to be promoted to the   
next level. So if Ranma, showing a normal Justicer power level, was   
able to shortly show a stronger power, he might be noticed.  
  
In the next days, each Amazon started to show some increase in power,   
like their Justicer squad leader. The rise in power was modest, but it   
was way past what a classic beetle could do in a month.  
  
So... Justicer Ranma being the leader and trainer of this squad, he   
was called to meet the basement's Prince. Their crazy scheme worked,   
and they didn't even knew there was a Prince here at the training   
facilities.  
  
---  
  
Ranma was in front of the door of the Prince's office. He knocked,   
then entered the room when he heard a voice ordering him to enter.  
  
"Justicer Ranma here to report, Sir." Said Ranma, the gathering of  
information these last days had paid a lot, and they learned the   
beetles codes easily.  
  
Behind the desk, the Prince was standing in front of a window, with   
his back toward Ranma. He seemed to look at the training ground.  
  
"I had some doubt at first, but after these few days, I knew it was   
you, Ranma..." said the man after a little while, clad in a red beetle   
uniform and a better armor than the one given to the Justicers, he   
also had a Sword of Justice fastened to his belt.  
  
{This voice... no, it can't be...} thought Ranma, hatred starting to   
show on his face.  
  
The man turned toward Ranma, revealing his own face.  
  
"I'm very disappointed in you, boy." Said the man, seeing that Ranma   
had recognized him.  
  
"Pop... Of all the thing I thought you'll never do, this was at the   
very bottom of the list." Spat Ranma at his father.  
  
"You don't even know what you're talking about, boy. But I must say   
I'm surprised to see you in this armor. When did you join us?" asked   
Genma with a frown.  
  
"Hu... Hahaha, you actually thought I joined the beetle army? After we   
joined the rebellion, I didn't stop just because our forces were   
crushed the first time. I've more pride than that!" Ranma laughed at   
his father face.  
  
"So I suppose you're just a spy for these Amazons?"  
  
"What if I am? I learned more with them in these last months than I   
did with you in all these years."  
  
"Son... surely you misunderstood the real motive behind all this."   
Genma told his son. "All our old acquaintance are not dead."  
  
"What? I SAW them die with my own eyes!" Ranma shouted back.  
  
"Some didn't die. They joined the army, and now they operate under my   
command as Justicers. Some are even here, training."  
  
"Yeah... sure. You converted them into animated zombies, and now   
you're using them like some toys in your foolish war."  
  
"Ranma. You don't understand the Master real goal..."  
  
"I know enough to say that some innocent are lobotomized or even   
killed for NOTHING!"  
  
"You always were a disappointment to me back then. I see that you   
stayed the same... I must thank you, despite your pathetic actions."  
  
"Hu?"  
  
"You brought me some good warriors to convert..." chuckled Genma.  
  
"DON'T YOU DARE !!!" shouted Ranma while crossing the space between   
him and his father in an eye blink.  
  
Genma easily blocked the punch, being prepared for the attack.  
  
"That's it, son. Show me what you learned with these so great   
Amazons." taunted Genma while pushing his son back.  
  
"It'll be my pleasure, you bastard! I was waiting for this day!" said   
Ranma while powering up, removing the blocks he put on himself to pass   
as a Justicer.  
  
"It's time for you to learn to show some respect to your betters,   
boy!"  
  
They engaged the fight.  
  
---  
  
On their training quarter, the Amazon felt Ranma increasing aura.  
  
"Aiya... what is he doing? He want to fight the Prince all by   
himself?" asked Shampoo.  
  
"The only thing he'll succeed to do is to get himself killed." Ryoga   
answered her.  
  
"We got to help him, the jerk can't possibly win by himself." Added   
Akane  
  
"The Prince aura is far too much for any of us to beat him." Pointed  
Shampoo.  
  
"Well, I'm not gonna let the fool fight alone!" shouted Ryoga, while   
dashing toward Ranma's position.  
  
"STOP!" ordered a passing Justicer. "You are all under arrest!" He   
motioned to his troops to arrest the disguised Amazons.  
  
"WHAT?" shouted Ryoga.  
  
"Hu Ho... problem." Added Shampoo.  
  
"Seems we'll have to get by them first." Announced Akane, getting   
ready to fight for her own freedom.  
  
---  
  
After only a few minutes of fighting, Ranma was reduced to a bloody   
pulp, while Genma showed only minor bruises.  
  
"You disappoint me more each passing day, son. Is that all you got? I   
was waiting for much more." Genma continued to taunt.  
  
"Argh... I'm not puff finished puff yet..." Ranma warned his   
father between gasps.  
  
"To say that your friends must already being converted at this   
time..."  
  
"Wha...?"  
  
"When I asked you to come, I also ordered to my troops to arrest your   
friends. With some luck, they are still fighting for their lives."   
Genma informed his bloodied son.  
  
"DIE!" screamed Ranma projecting himself on his father, too surprised   
by the sudden speed to dodge. The two men impacted on the window,   
passing through it and then crashing on the ground bellow.  
  
Genma quickly disengaged from his son.  
  
"There. This is way better."  
  
Ranma got up with trouble and leveled his eyes to his father's,   
burning with rage.  
  
"I'm gonna tear you apart, old man! I dunno how, but I'll do it...Even   
if it's the last thing I do!" Ranma warned his father, starting to   
unseal his nekoken. He slashed the air, sending a razor sharp wave of   
chi toward his father.  
  
{So the boy mastered the nekoken...} Genma thought to himself, smiling   
mentally. He countered the nekoken attack by a vacuum wave of his own,   
the two attack canceling each other, Genma then blurred and punched   
his son on the jaw, sending him several feet farther.  
  
"You think you can beat me? You can't even stand on you feet without   
trouble."  
  
Ranma started to crawl back up, using a nearby wall to help himself to   
stand back up.  
  
"I'll... never... give up. Ranma Saotome don't lose!"  
  
"You don't even know when you already lost, boy. Stop this nonsense."   
Genma walked up to his son and kicked him in the ribs, sending him   
flying.  
  
This time, Ranma didn't move.  
  
---  
  
The other fight was not going well either. Not that the beetles could   
harm any of the Amazon, but the Justicers were another story.  
  
For each foe that bit the mud, two would take his place. The Amazons   
knew that they were soon going to lose the fight, but they hoped to   
see the number of beetle to finally start to decreasing.  
  
"Urhh... We have to end this a way or another. Ranma is not going to   
make it without our help!" cried Akane.  
  
"Well, I'm already running out of chi here... even if I could get to   
Ranma, I would be unable to help him... his aura is becoming weaker   
and weaker." Shampoo shouted back.  
  
"He have better to not die here... Only I have the right to kill him!"  
mumbled Ryoga to himself.  
  
"Less talk! More fight!" Shampoo shouted again, the Amazon letting   
herself be consumed by her ancestor's battle frenzy.  
  
Without any warning, all the beetles detector exploded at the same   
time.  
  
"Wha.." Akane started to say.  
  
"What's this... Who could be strong enough to make a detector   
explode?" Ryoga asked to his comrades. "Anyway, that's our chance.   
Bakusai Tenkestu !!" He shouted mightily, his technique sending rocks   
everywhere and hiding them in dust.  
  
Using the distraction, the Amazons could beat the beetles between them   
and Ranma. They started to run for their lives, the last Justicers   
following them.  
  
"Could it be... Ranma?" Akane whispered with hope in her voice.  
  
---  
  
Genma noted that Ranma's flesh was losing it's color and paling.  
  
{He's already suffering from blood loss? What a wimp!} thought Genma.  
  
He then noticed that Ranma's HAIR where paling too, getting discolored   
and golden.  
  
"What the..." He said, surprised. He didn't have more time as Ranma   
started to stand up again, his whole body glowing gold.  
  
When Ranma was upright, he gazed at his father, the pupils of his   
eyes, still burning with rage, had somewhat turned emerald.  
  
"You had enough warning, old man. I told you I'll tear you apart."   
Without even a blur, Ranma had his fist buried deep in Genma fat   
stomach. He followed by a spinning kick on the jaw and send his father   
flying on the other side of the room.  
  
"How did you...?" asked Genma while he spitted blood.  
  
"I dunno... I told ya I didn't know how I would kill you. But now that   
I have the power to, I'm gonna do it." Ranma replied coldly while he   
walked up to his father.  
  
Genma tried to attack his son with all his might, but his fist was   
caught easily by Ranma.  
  
"Who's pathetic now, old man? Not as boasting now that you're on the   
receiving end, eh?" A quick hit on the elbow easily broke his father   
arm. "You should have followed me when I went to China. Now, it's my   
duty to see that you'll never harm anyone again."  
  
Ranma used his grip on his father fist to project him on a nearly   
wall, causing his father to spit more blood, but he was still standing   
up.  
  
"I'm truly sorry to have to do this. But you didn't give me the   
choice." Tears were running freely on Ranma's cheeks now. "Kachu   
Tenshin Amagouriken!!"  
  
Several hundred of punched rained on the red armored body of the man   
knew as Genma Saotome, destroying his Prince's armor, breaking bones   
and reducing him to a bloody pulp.  
  
Ranma caught his father by the neck to keep him from falling. With his   
other hand, he summoned his nekoken chi claws.  
  
"Farewell, father." Ranma whispered more to himself than his now   
unconscious father. With a quick movement, he cut his father head off   
of his shoulders, ending the fat man's life.  
  
---  
  
The blue armored Amazon group was finally getting to where Ranma   
fought, they had now far less followers.  
  
When they did get there, the first thing they saw was a victorious   
golden haired Ranma. Then they saw the headless corpse of the Prince.   
Seeing the chi claws on Ranma's hand, they understood that he had   
somewhat succeeded to kill his mighty opponent.  
  
Their stupor caused them to stop there. Ranma's emerald eyes, still   
filled with hatred and some blood lust could have helped too.  
  
The last following Justicers were catching their targets up. Ranma,   
seeing them, dashed forward without any warning. His now increased   
speed allowing him to cut the last five Justicers in a few seconds,   
using only a couple slashing movement to cut all them in two.  
  
He then stood there, looking at all the blood at his feet.  
  
"Ranma?" Akane asked.  
  
"Yes?" he asked back, his voice sounding tired, but cold too.  
  
"We need to leave, now that we have been identified." She told him.  
  
"Sure. Let's go." He answered while turning back toward the amazons.   
They noticed his now pallid face.  
  
"How do you did this?" Ryoga asked his rival.  
  
"I dunno. I was so angry at him... and when I thought it was finished,   
I felt this new power burning through me."  
  
"I think we need to report to the Matriarch as fast as we can." Said   
Shampoo to cut some tension.  
  
"Yeah... Let's get back home." Added Akane.  
  
"Ryoga. The Prince... he was my father..." Ranma told his   
friend/rival.  
  
"What? It was this bastard that was ruling here?" The fanged boy   
asked.  
  
"Yup. I wanted to only beat him up good at first. But he made me so   
angry." He explained.  
  
"Don't worry, man. I'd have done the same thing." Ryoga told him.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
They used their last strength to take the air and they put as much   
distance as they could manage before they had to get their feet back   
on earth. Sometime during the flight, Ranma's body returned to normal.  
  
---  
Chapter 2 End  
--- 


	4. Chapter 3 : Los Angeles, where angels we...

Gaia's Awakening  
---  
" " are speaking  
' ' are quotes  
{ } are thoughts  
are sounds  
---  
Chapter 3  
---  
  
At the Amazon Village, everybody was doing the last preparations   
before the final attack on the Tyrant's hive.  
  
Two Amazon girls were chatting while they verified their weapons.  
  
"Perfume, I'm a little worried for tomorrow. Lot's of us will die on   
the battle field." Said a girl with long cyan hair.  
  
"You always worry too much, Lotion. You saw Shampoo and her friends'   
power, and the Matriarch Cologne herself will be leading us." Perfume   
replied to her friend.  
  
"Yeah, but I heard there was another group fighting the beetle army.   
Maybe we could join force with them?"  
  
"I don't know, last report I heard of, they were naming themselves the   
'Chosen of Civa' and seemed to be all insane somehow. Anyway, we are   
proud Amazons and we don't need no men to battle for us!"  
  
"Maybe. But this battle is not ours only. We could use the help."  
  
"It's too late to contact them anyway. We must take care of these   
weapons, we are going to need them."  
  
---  
  
When they departed, it was magnificent to see. A little more than a   
hundred Amazon walking side by side, going to war.  
  
The travel took a lot more time than for the elite group, lead by   
Ranma. The Amazons couldn't allow to be detected before they got to   
their destination, and the forced stealth just increased the length of   
their travel.  
  
It took them two whole weeks to get to Los Angeles.  
  
Already having the plan of the city from the scouting party, they   
planned an all-out attack. The Amazons were split in several groups   
and each took its place. Cologne would lead the elite group herself,   
their goal being the tyrant himself, while the other groups were to   
deal with the soldiers guarding the headquarter.  
  
The attack was finally launched, and the Amazons discovered sadly that   
the number of enemies was way over what they had planed. But they got   
the effect of surprise, and a much better training for them.  
  
All in all, it was a pure blood bath.  
  
---  
  
The Amazon Elite Group tore its way pretty easily into the depth of   
the building. The only problem was to locate Ma Yuan's exact position,   
Cologne only being able to sense him if he wasn't too far.  
  
Once done, they rushed up to the top of the HQ tower, since the self   
proclaimed World Master seemed to like high places.  
  
When they got to the last couple top levels, they encountered the   
personal guard, consisting in a War Prince and some Justicers. The   
Elite Group hold them up while Cologne went to meet with the one that   
began all this madness.  
  
---  
  
Cologne entered the room. It was pretty dark in here, but her   
sensitive eyes could see even without any light at all, so it was not   
a problem. The room looked a lot like a typical throne room described   
on some cheap novels.  
  
There were painting on the walls, big windows, some carpets on the   
floor, and even a throne like chair on the other side of the room. It   
was not a surprise to see that the chair was occupied.  
  
Cologne was more surprised when she saw WHO was sitting there : a   
frail looking old man. But the huge power she felt in him told her all   
she needed to know, so she didn't let her guard down.  
  
He was the one, of that she was sure. When she started to walk toward   
him, he spoke.  
  
"I see that you finally gathered the courage to face me. Good. It will   
save me the pain to track all of you."  
  
"You wish!" She spat at him. "We'll destroy you and enjoy our freedom.   
Don't underestimate us!"  
  
"We shall see." Ma Yuan sat up and walked a little toward her. "We   
shall see who is underestimating who." The old man was coolly smirking   
at her like a cat that cornered a mouse.  
  
Slowly, Cologne flamed her aura and allowed it to grow past its bounds   
until she broke the first seal, her eyes' pupils turning green and her   
long jade green hair becoming a pale golden yellow, and standing   
upright defying gravity. Not even fazed, Ma Yuan started to follow her   
by powering up too.  
  
Knowing that her opponent was still holding back, she tried to   
surprise him and continued to increase her aura, going past the first   
seal and slowly but surely breaking the second one.  
  
The tyrant's eyes widened a little at her transformation, but he said   
nothing, letting her have this little advantage.  
  
The green haired warrior's body started to increase it's muscle masse.   
She grown half her height, going from her natural 6'4" to an   
astonishing 9'6", looking like a bulky giant and towering the old man,   
her skin got a little paler, her eyebrows disappeared, her hair   
lengthened and fell down past her hips.  
  
Finally ready, the Amazon matriarch started the fight, rushing at   
insane speed for a quick punch to test Ma Yuan's defense. The old man   
blocked her rather easily, proving that her seeming advantage in power   
level what not as great as she thought it was.  
  
Letting her fury get the better of herself, she thrown blow after blow   
at her opponent, intending to overpower him before he could counter   
attack. But her charge was met head on and each blow skillfully   
blocked or dodged.  
  
Smirking knowingly, Ma Yuan let the Amazon lose some stamina in her   
furious attack, staying on the defensive. Horrified to see that she   
was being played with so easily, Cologne understood that her actual   
power level was still not enough to win.  
  
Getting some space from her opponent, she started focusing under the   
vigilant eye of the patient old man. Her battle aura flared a light   
yellow, with a few lightning bolts dancing in it while the ground   
shook a little.  
  
"Kaioken!" She announced while thinking up about her situation. {Why   
is he letting me power up like this? Is he that confident in himself?}   
she thought seeing that her foe's smirk was still there, despite her   
aura getting bigger and bigger.  
  
"You're decided to take me seriously, it seems..." he taunted her.  
  
"And you are not, why?"  
  
"I know what I'm capable of. And I see nothing to fear in you, my   
dear."  
  
"We'll see!! Yaaa!!" she shout while charging anew.  
  
Once again, she pummeled him in hope to find a hole in his defense,   
but finding none usable. Gathering a little chi, she increased her   
speed and used the famous Amazon attack called...  
  
"Kachu Tenchin Amagouriken!!" She shouted while punching past the   
speed of sound. But all the result she got was each of her punches   
side stepped, deflected or merely blocked.  
  
"Nice technique... is that the best you can do ? I'm growing tired to   
play with you. So if you don't mind, I'll speed things up a little."  
  
His aura flared and increased until... he broke the second seal too   
and undergo the same transformation as she did, gaining half his size   
in height, catching up to her, eyes turning all red and his skin   
paling.  
  
"I'd say I'm sorry but... I'd lie. Bye!" was the last words she'd hear   
as he punched her in the jaw and send her flying, only to somewhat   
send a chi blast in the same movement to catch up with her just before   
she crashed on a wall.  
  
The shock made her to lose her control over her battle aura while she   
slide to the floor, losing the added power it provided her. She slowly   
crawled back to her feet while Ma Yuan quickly closed the gap between   
them.  
  
It was then that the Amazon Elite Group entered in the room, only to   
saw their Matriarch, the best Amazon warrior being beaten.  
  
"Do not interfere!" Cologne warned Ranma and the others. "He's more   
than you can take, you can't help me, you'd just get in the way."  
  
{He's more powerful than me... I have only one mean to win then...}   
she thought while a plan was forming in her mind.  
  
"Bakusai Tenketsu!!" she shouted, striking the ground with one   
extended finger, causing it to explode and expulse dirt everywhere,   
hiding her from the man for a short time. Gathering her remaining   
force, she called upon the power of the Soul of Ice et stated running   
around the old man in circles.  
  
"You know that's your last chance to defeat me, don't you? Then I'll   
finish you, I have others guest to entertain too, you see?" chuckled   
Ma Yuan, sensing her presence without having to see her.  
  
"HIRYU..." She was now closing on the old man running into a spiral.   
"...SHOTEN..." the stopped a couple feet from him and launched an   
uppercut, missing him from a few inches. "...Urk!" was all she could   
manage when the man planted his fist deep into her gut.  
  
"You were saying something?" he teased her.  
  
"...ha." she finished in a whisper, completing the move while the   
tornado took form and sucked both her and the tyrant.  
  
"Impressive technique, beautiful one... but vain against someone who   
can..." He told her while being sucked by the wind, just before   
disappearing, leaving her all alone to suffer the wrath of her own   
deadly technique.  
  
"...teleport, like me." He finished several feet away, slowly lowering   
himself back to the ground, watching the woman he fought being killed   
by her own tornado. Sighting, he turned toward the teens.  
  
"I hope you are not giving it a try. Not that you're not welcome to,   
but I'd prefer you to surrender. It'd be less painful that way... for   
you." He warned the group.  
  
"You killed Great-grandmother! I'll kill you!" shouted Shampoo, but   
she got caught by Ranma and Ryoga before she could try to carry out   
her threat.  
  
"Shampoo! Stop! You saw it yourself, you will only get killed if you   
attack him." Ranma told her, trying to get her to calm down.  
  
"Damn, he's much more powerful than what we thought. There is no way   
for us to beat him if even Cologne's technique didn't even faze him."   
Commented Ryoga.  
  
"It's good to see that you have more brain that your ex-leader." Ma   
Yuan told them. "You're showing a lot of potential, it'd be a shame to   
kill you. I got a deal for you."  
  
"What could you possibly want from us?" Akane asked.  
  
"Well. I suppose you won't be willing to join my army, so if you   
surrender now and swear to stop opposing me, I'll let you live. What   
do you say?" asked the old man, powering down to the first seal and   
letting his form shrank back to normal.  
  
The teen looked each others, not believing what they heard.  
  
"You're willing to let us go, just like that, even after we tried to   
kill you and all?" Ranma asked back.  
  
"Why not? It's not like you can do anything against me anyway. You   
fought for what you thought was right, and I like that. Now, I'm   
giving you the choice to go back with your lives or get killed   
uselessly in a fight you can't hope to win." Ma Yuan replied.  
  
"But if we give up now, what could be the meaning of all of today's   
deaths? They were counting on us to win this fight. Can we back down   
without betraying them?" asked Akane.  
  
"What good will it do if you die here, if you fail doing what you came   
here for, anyway?" Ma Yuan answered her.  
  
"He's right." Whispered Ranma, surprising everyone.  
  
"What did you just said, man?" Ryoga asked him. "YOU accepting defeat  
without a fight?"  
  
"Well, even 'I' know when I'm all over my head. Get real, guys. Even   
Cologne didn't scratch this guy, what can we hope to do? I, for one,   
am yielding." Ranma stated, looking at the ground in shame.  
  
"I didn't think I'd live to see the day where Ranma Saotome would   
yield." Ryoga said completely astonished.  
  
"Well, deal with it. It may not be what I want in the bottom of my   
heart, but we got no choice here." Ranma told him back.  
  
"So... Will you all be as wise as your friend here? I'm sensing some   
more amazons coming this way and I want this dealt with before they   
get there." The old man informed them.  
  
"So, guys? What are you doing? Akane, I order you to surrender. I   
promised your family you'll be fine, so I can't let you die on them."   
Ranma told her.  
  
"But... No, you are right. I'll yield too." Akane said.  
  
"Ranma, you'll own me one for this. But I yield too." Said Ryoga.  
  
"I must keep my people's spirit alive. I yield too. But this is not   
the end!" Shampoo warned Ma Yuan.  
  
"So it's settled." The old man affirmed smiling. "Now for these   
beautiful maiden..." he added when fifteen Amazon entered the room.  
  
"Here he is! Die!!" They all shouted at once while charging the old   
man.  
  
"Stop! I order you to back down!" tried to yell Shampoo, but the   
warriors didn't stop to hear her out.  
  
"This is sad for them, but I can't do anything less." Said Ma Yuan   
before getting into action. 60 seconds later, all the warriors were in   
the floor laying into a forming pool of their own blood, limbs bent in   
impossible angles.  
  
"You killed them!" screamed Shampoo while Ranma and Ryoga restrained   
her again. "Why? If you're so powerful, you could have rendered them   
unable to fight anymore!!"  
  
"That's the problem. I'm too much powerful to fight against weak   
fighters like them. I cannot make myself weak enough. Each of my blows   
are lethal." He informed them.  
  
"There must be a way to..." started Ranma, but he was interrupted by a  
window exploding. Everyone shielded their eyes from the glass.  
  
When they turned back to the window, they could see someone floating   
there, a blonde gaijin guy with short hair, wearing strange clothes   
like in the old China, several centuries ago.  
  
"Well, well... long time no see, Ma Yuan!" said the man.  
  
Frowning for the first time in the day, the old man said only one   
word.  
  
"Civa..."  
  
---  
End or chapter 3.  
Next chapter : Ma Yuan/Civa, a fight between titans.  
--- 


	5. Chapter 4 : Ma Yuan Vs Civa, a fight bet...

Gaia's Awakening  
---  
" " are speaking  
' ' are quotes  
{ } are thoughts  
are sounds  
---  
Chapter 4  
---  
  
"Civa..." said Ma Yuan, frowning.  
  
"Good to see you didn't forgot me after the past 50 years or so, God   
slayer. You didn't seriously think that I died in my own technique."   
Civa replied with venom in his voice.  
  
"A old man could always hope. I suppose you came here for a rematch?"  
  
"A REMATCH?! I came to take your life. You killed nearly all the Gods,  
including mine. Now it's time for me to avenge them. PREPARE TO   
DIIEEE!!!" shouted Civa while rushing Ma Yuan, powering up to the   
first seal.  
  
---  
  
"Remind me of someone these two..." commented Akane dryly.  
  
"Shudup!" came the dual answer from Ranma and Ryoga.  
  
---  
  
"Some Gods they turned out to be. While the humans where suffering,   
your so called 'Gods' where living like kings. Why do you think that   
so much of the future Gods joined me instead of them?" said Ma Yuan   
while defending himself against Civa's onslaught.  
  
"That was the way things were for several millennia. You didn't have   
the right to change it!" shouted Civa, continuing to power up,   
reaching the second seal, and outgrowing his clothes.  
  
"Humans didn't need no Gods. They needed help. And me and my followers   
gave them what they needed." Ma Yuan defended himself, both in words   
and fight, following Civa's power up.  
  
"You think your dictatorship is better than the fear of a God's wrath  
maybe?"  
  
Both fighter aura were increasing dangerously, largely going past the   
power of the second seal.  
  
"Of course! They know I'll protect them, not punish them."  
  
"I have seen enough of you. Die!" screamed Civa.  
  
---  
  
"Oh my God! They are still powering up!" said Ryoga.  
  
"I can't believe it. How can someone be THAT much powerful?" Akane   
asked herself.  
  
"Aiya! They are going to break legendary third seal!" shouted   
Shampoo!"  
  
"The WHAT?" asked Ranma and Ryoga in unison.  
  
---  
  
And break the third seal they did.  
  
The two titans' bodies grown once more, up to the double of their   
normal height, their eyes turned all green and started to flare, while   
their hair and flesh turn entirely white, emitting a pale light   
similar to the Gaia's amber own luminescence.  
  
The battle, nowhere near it's end, was pushed to a whole new level.   
Each opponent throwing blow or chi blast able to destroy the whole   
building without breaking a sweat.  
  
The Amazon Elite Group put some more space between them and the fight.  
  
The fight seemed endless, but finally, the two men started to weaken,   
their chi reserve starting to deplete itself.  
  
---  
  
"It seems, dear Civa, that there won't be any winner any time soon."   
Ma Yuan informed his enemy.  
  
"Talk about yourself, I still have my Armageddon."  
  
"WHAT? Don't you remember what happened last time you used it? You   
want to destroy the whole earth or what?"  
  
"I don't care! I want you dead!" shouted Civa, starting to gather his  
remaining chi.  
  
"NO! Stop it, damn fool!!" screamed Ma Yuan, increasing his speed to   
disrupt Civa's focus.  
  
"You won't be able to stop me. You couldn't last time!" warned Civa   
before teleporting.  
  
"Damn!!" shouted Ma Yuan before teleporting away too.  
  
---  
  
"They are not far, I can still sense them." Said Akane to the group.  
  
"If I must die today, then I want to see the end of this fight!" Ryoga  
warned the others.  
  
"I'm with you, pal!" Ranma added.  
  
The group took the airs and flew into the sky, looking for the god-  
like battle still unfinished.  
  
---  
  
"Where are you! I thought you wanted to kill me? Show your face!   
CIVA!!" shouted Ma Yuan, looking for his enemy.  
  
"I merely waited to be ready. Now I am. Prepare to meet all the god   
you killed, Godslayer!!!" answered the madman, rushing from upward in   
the sky to meet his mortal foe, his whole body flaring power.  
  
"Look like I don't have the choice. I must kill him before he complete   
his move!" muttered Ma Yuan while rushing toward Civa.  
  
The two collided with so much force that the air pressure alone was   
enough to cause an earthquake.  
  
That was THEN that the end of the world started.  
  
The Armageddon was activated.  
  
Civa's body exploded outward, throwing Ma Yuan across the city and  
destroying a lot of buildings in the process.  
  
The only thing saving Ranma and the others was them running, of   
rather, flying away.  
  
The blast drilled its way on the ground, caving it like it wasn't even  
there.  
  
The earthquake doubled in intensity.  
  
The sky covered in dark clouds and lighting bolts started to light the   
now black sky.  
  
When the blast died down, of Civa there was no trace.  
  
The effects of the blast didn't die down but increased in their   
destruction all around.  
  
After a period that looked like hours, a small white figure came back   
from the other side of the city.  
  
Not knowing what to do, the Amazon Elite Group, probably the only   
survivors of this nasty day, went to meet the weakened tyrant.  
  
---  
  
"Damn! Damn! DAMN THIS FOOL!!" shouted Ma Yuan to the sky, his  
transformations gone. "He just HAD to do it, damn it."  
  
He was nonetheless surprised when he saw the young Amazons flying   
toward  
him.  
  
"Hey! I see that you failed to die. Good!" he greeted them.  
  
"DO you know what's happening? Is it the effect of this Armageddon   
tech that Civa used?" Ranma asked the old man.  
  
"the Armageddon only isn't enough to cause this. The problem is that   
the planet hadn't the time to properly heal the last Armageddon's   
effect from 50 years ago." Ma Yuan explained them.  
  
"WHAT? 50 years not enough?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"That's what I'm telling you. What do you thing caused that much   
damage on the planet 50 years ago? This is just the start of the   
technique in fact. Its power disrupt the earth's flow of chi and cause   
great damage to all the ecosystem."  
  
"Isn't there anything we can do to prevent it?" Akane asked him.  
  
"Maybe if I was at full force I could do something, but there is no   
one strong enough. I fear that this fool won in the end. I'm gonna die   
in the planet's explosion." Ma Yuan lamented.  
  
"What da'ya mean, planet's explosion?" Ranma exclaimed, losing his   
grammar.  
  
"Exactly what it mean. The planet is going to die, and all of us with   
it."  
  
"Wait. You said that if you were at full power, you could stop it?"   
Akane asked at her turn.  
  
"Maybe. But that's not possible, I'm too weak now. Hell, even you   
could beat me now."  
  
"Then we may have a solution." Ranma informed the tyrant.  
  
"Explain." Was all that Ma Yuan replied, his face now dead serious.  
  
Ranma picked something small from one of his pants pocket.  
  
"Eat this. It's a plant we cultivate with some amber to help the   
growth. It'll give you back your full power. You'll be able to save   
the planet with this." Ranma obediently explained.  
  
"You're trusting me with the planet's fate after you tried to kill me?   
Why?" asked them the old man, bewildered.  
  
"We just don't have a choice. You're the only one powerful enough to   
do what's needed to do." Said Ryoga.  
  
"Well. I don't know what'll happen to me, but you got my thanks for   
this, children." Said Ma Yuan just before eating the small pea.  
  
His power full back, he rocketed to the ground, powering up to his   
third seal level, his aura growing more and more.  
  
The Amazon teens followed him but they were not fast enough to keep   
the pace. When they got close enough, they saw the old man's body   
getting more and more translucent as he focused his chi in the earth,   
repairing the planet's chi flows before they got totally destroyed by   
the terrible power of the Armageddon.  
  
Long before they could get to him, Ma Yuan's body finished to   
disappear in the ground without even a mark to prove his existence. Ma   
Yuan, the god slayer, the tyrant, the auto proclaimed world master,   
was no more.  
  
Their primary goal was accomplished. But the price paid what much more   
than what they ever were ready to pay.  
  
Having nothing more to do in this desolated landscape, the Amazons   
started their way back to their home, not even having the bodies of   
their fallen friends to bring back and honor like they deserved.  
  
---  
  
Not far in the sky, if someone was there to look closely, they could   
see some strange vortex forming, some white, some black, like tears in   
the fabric of our world.  
  
And if you looked long enough, you'd have seen dark figures exiting   
the black vortex. Figures with black membranous wings, horns and   
claws.  
  
You'd have seen Demons.  
  
---  
  
End of chapter 4  
Next chapter : demonic invasion. No peace for the braves.  
  
--- 


	6. Chapter 5 : No peace for the braves

Gaia's Awakening  
---  
" " are speaking  
' ' are quotes  
{ } are thoughts  
are sounds  
---  
Chapter 5 : No peace for the braves  
---  
  
It took a few days to prepare, but for the remaining Amazons, the dead   
couldn't go into the afterlife without a proper ceremony. They fought   
for what they thought was right, and gave their lives to protect their   
loved ones. Nobody could dream a better death than that.  
  
The farewell ceremony was magnificent, as always when Amazons are   
concerned. A very large bonfire was light at the place of the village,   
and everyone took his or her turn to mourn the dead.  
  
It then took days for the village to get a little life back. The death   
of Cologne, Great Matriarch of the village for fifty years, put a   
thick veil of silence on the village.  
  
And so, several days after the cataclysm in America, a family came   
through the doors of the village, asking for shelter.  
  
---  
  
"Kasumi? Nabiki? Dad? Oh my God!! What are you doing here?" shouted   
Akane, her eyes in tears.  
  
"My baby! You are alright! We were so worried about you!" her father   
shouted back, trying to mimic a waterfall with great deal of success.  
  
"My, my, father, you might want to let her breathe." Kasumi tried to   
calm her father, seeing Akane start to turn a little blue, despite her   
growing power.  
  
"Well, sis, seems life here didn't change you all that much. And to   
answer you question : the big cataclysm in America caused the poles'   
ice to start to melt and Japan is more or less under water." Nabiki   
explained.  
  
"You mean... the house.." Akane asked, trembling slightly with grief.  
  
"We took all we could. Everyone was invited to go to China or any   
other country of the continent." Kasumi told her baby sister.  
  
"We thought that we might as well try to find you here, since you were   
already in China yourself. I'm so happy to see you. Bwaaa!" Soun   
explained, before going into another crying fit.  
  
"Come on, don't stay here, I'll show you the village!" exclaimed   
Akane, dragging her two sisters by the hands without much effort.  
  
"Wow, slow down sis, we are not as strong as you." Nabiki complained,   
causing Akane to walk instead of running.  
  
---  
  
"Hey, Mister Tendo, long time no see. Paying us a visit?" Ranma asked   
to his future father-in-law.  
  
"Ranma, son, I'm afraid we lost our ancestral home because of that   
cataclysm in America." Soun explained to the Amazon group.  
  
"He means Japan was flooded when the poles melted..." Akane tried to   
resume for her friends.  
  
"What? Even with Ma Yuan dying to save the planet, there still was   
that much damage?" Ryoga wondered.  
  
"Ma Yuan? The World Master? What does he have to do with that?" Nabiki   
asked, her curiosity peeked.  
  
"He fought with some insane guy very powerful, and this guy used some   
attack he named 'Apocalypse' that could destroy the earth itself. Ma   
Yuan gave all his power to the planet to save it from blowing up. We   
currently have some scouts looking at the ruins of Los Angeles to see   
how it's doing." Ranma resumed.  
  
"Yeah, we were there when it happened and it wasn't pretty. Even the   
Amazon Great Matriarch wasn't even a challenge to these guys." Ryoga   
informed the Tendo family.  
  
"I don't see Genma anywhere. Ranma, where is your father?" Sound   
asked.  
  
Ranma face turned serious and lost all trace of happiness. Silently,   
he turned and left the group, not even saying goodbye.  
  
"Huu, Dad, it's a rather sore subject to Ranma. It'd be best if you   
didn't talk about him in front of Ranma." Akane told her father.  
  
"Why, is there a problem?" he asked.  
  
"Well, some time ago, Genma tried to kill us all, even Ranma maybe, or   
at least lobotomize us. He worked with the Beetle army. Ranma was   
forced to kill his own father." Ryoga told the Tendo Patriarch.  
  
"Ranma did what?" Soun shouted, getting angry.  
  
"He didn't have a choice, really, dad. Genma was ready to kill me and   
the others. When we got to Ranma, he was bleeding from a lot of wounds   
from his father. Then Ranma got back up again and his hair had turned   
golden. He tried to give a chance to his father, but he didn't have a   
choice." Akane explained to her father.  
  
"Genma did that? My dear old friend, how could you fall so low...  
  
"Come on Dad, I'll show you where you'll live from now on." Akane told   
her father, showing him the way.  
  
---  
  
Akane family was easily accepted into the tribe. Kasumi helped with   
her cooking and housekeeping skills, Nabiki was busy learning Chinese   
and helping the Elders to manage the village without Cologne. Soun   
started to teach Anything Goes to the Amazons warriors, this helped   
him to ignore his sorrow.  
  
All was going well for the Amazon village. TOO well.  
  
That's when some scouts came back from Los Angeles.  
  
They weren't bringing good news.  
  
---  
  
"What da ya mean? Big black ugly monsters? Be more precise." Ranma   
asked one of the scouts.  
  
"We couldn't get nearer or we'd have been discovered. But these   
monsters were building some sort of camp. They may be waiting for   
friends or something." the scout explained.  
  
"Damn, we need to look at that, and NOW!" Ryoga said.  
  
"Geez, thanks mister obvious. Thanks for the info. Get some rest,   
we'll go and meet with the rest of the scouting party. You did a good   
job." Ranma told the girl.  
  
"Aiya, now that Ma Yuan is no more, we get another problem. It's just   
not fair." Shampoo lamented.  
  
"I know." Ranma told her. "But we got no choice here, we need to find   
where they come from."  
  
And yet again, Ranma and the 'elite' group of the Amazons went to go   
to Los Angeles. A travel they were starting to know by heart.  
  
---  
  
A few days later. The Amazon scouting camp.  
  
"Damnit. Water, why does it need to be water!" Ranma, in girl form,   
was complaining.  
  
"If you took an umbrella just like us, you wouldn't have got wet."   
Akane told the boy-turned-girl.  
  
"I ain't no girl, Akane." Ranma shot back  
  
"Not from where I am!" Ryoga teased his rival, smirking.  
  
"And I ain't no pig either!" Ranma shouted scowling.  
  
"Ah! you can shout all you want, but you are the only one wet here,   
and don't you tell you weren't warned. So put a sock on it, okay?"   
Shampoo told Ranma, happy that being a waken made learning other   
languages so much easy.  
  
A scout came to greet them.  
  
"We weren't waiting for you so soon. I'm Brush." the cyan haired girl   
told them.  
  
"We didn't really have anything else to do. Show us the plans,   
please." Ranma said.  
  
"Follow me inside." the girl told them while walking toward one of the   
bigger tents. "The monsters seem to be surrounding that part of the   
city. We couldn't get a clear view of that place, but it looks like   
they are guarding something there. You might want to check it."  
  
"Might be a start. Okay, Ryoga and Akane, you try to see if you can go   
there unnoticed by foot. Shampoo and I will try to get a clear shot   
from the sky. We meet here if anything happen. ok?" Ranma instructed   
his partners.  
  
They all nodded and each pair did as they were told.  
  
---  
  
"It's not easy to fly while trying to hide as much power as possible."   
Shampoo told Ranma.  
  
"Yeah, I know. We can't go in there any other way as long as we don't   
know what we are facing this time." Ranma explained her.  
  
"True enough. Hey! What's that!" She explained pointing toward the   
darkened sky in front of them.  
  
"What the hell..." Ranma muttered.  
  
In front of them was what looked like a black scar into the reality   
itself. Like a vortex made of pure power, clouded into shadows.  
  
They knew they had just found what they where looking for.  
  
---  
End chapter 5  
next chapter : the Trinity, or where did the monsters came from.  
--- 


	7. Chapter 6 : The Trinity and Athena

Gaia's Awakening  
---  
" " are speaking  
' ' are quotes  
{ } are thoughts  
are sounds  
---  
Chap 6 : Trinity  
  
---  
  
A damn hole into the bloody reality itself. THAT was where the blasted   
beast where from. But how is one supposed to stop an invasion like   
that? Well, you could stay put at the entrance and kill whatever came   
through it, but what if it wasn't the only portal there was? There   
were very few amazons that could fight these things. Only the Elites   
themselves had a chance to survive this battle.  
  
That was what Ranma thought while silently glaring at the glowing   
black vortex. He was so amazed by this turn of events that he didn't   
notice the patrol until it was too late.  
  
A squad of five beast had seen him and Shampoo, and they shouted an   
alert while taking to the air to catch the two elite amazons.  
  
Shaking himself from his shock-like state, Ranma grabbed Shampoo's   
hand and blasted as fast as possible into the air, letting go of the   
restrains on his power. They were already detected anyway.  
  
---  
  
"Hu? That was Ranma, what the f... is he trying to do, releasing his   
power like that?" nearly shouted Ryoga when he felt Ranma's aura   
expending.  
  
"He might have problems, but we'd need to rise our power too if we   
want to help him." Akane replied.  
  
"We can't! We would have to fight way too much beasts to get to them.   
He'll have to get himself out of here, we need to discover what they   
are hiding in here, so we can find a way to beat them." He told her,   
his face very serious.  
  
"I know, but I can't help to worry about him. He's strong but we don't   
know anything about THEM." Akane explained.  
  
"Yeah, I feel the same, and that's why we cannot fail. We NEED know   
more about them to be able to kick their ass so hard they won't ever   
try to come back." He replied, giving her an arrogant grin.  
  
{Darn! Am I turning into Ranma? I can't believe I said that!} the lost   
boy thought, recognizing the way he talked to Akane.  
  
---  
  
"Ranma, they are faster than you. Let me fly on my own, you are   
slowing us both dragging me like that!" complained Shampoo to her   
pigtailed friend, shouting so he could hear her despite the air   
pressure caused by their speed.  
  
"I know but we don't have time to slow down enough for that. I'm   
faster than you into the air and you don't slow me down that much!"   
Ranma shouted back.  
  
It was a lost cause, they both knew it. Neither wanting to endanger   
the other. Their pursuers were nearly on them when a ball of fire   
nearly incinerated Ranma's head, making him stop.  
  
"What the fuck..." Shouted the pigtailed amazon, dodging the following   
beasts.  
  
"You are fast, I'll give you that." Said a deep voice from where the   
fireball came.  
  
A black figure approached the amazon duo, revealing itself to be a   
bigger beast than the others ones, now surrounding the big one.  
  
{Must be a chief or something. It talks our language.} thought Ranma.  
  
"What the hell are you?" asked Ranma to the black figure through   
clenched teeth, trying to shield Shampoo as much as possible.  
  
"And what are you doing here, you ugly?" Shampoo added from behind   
Ranma.  
  
"My... I'm not surprised you don't recognize us, after all the last   
time we could cross worlds was a couple millennia ago. Humans always   
had a short memory. Hu, hu, hu." The thing laughed at them.  
  
"A couple millennia ago? Don't you try to make me believe that you are   
THAT old! I'm not that stupid!" shouted Ranma, getting angry at the   
way the beast acted.  
  
"Bah, who cares if I'm lying? But if you want to know, I'm 'only' five   
hundred years old." The dark monster answered, amused by the   
situation.  
  
"Since you seem to like talking, how about you tell us what you are   
doing here?" Shampoo asked the shadow.  
  
"Invading your world, what else does it seems like?" The beast replied   
her with a straight face... well, what looked like a straight face for   
this.. 'thing'.  
  
"Why? Is there even a reason for this invasion?" asked Ranma, trying   
to get a hold on his feelings.  
  
"In fact, yes. Our world is old. Much older than yours, so to keep us   
alive we have to find a new one." The best explained.  
  
"You're coming from another world?" exclaimed Ranma.  
  
"You forgot even that? Well, since I'm in a good mood, I'll let you   
know so you won't be ignorant when I kill you. There was, there is and   
there will always be three worlds : one old, that's mine; one adult,   
that's yours; and one young, I don't know this one yet. It has always   
be called the Trinity. When the old world finally die, the adult   
become old, then the young become adult and a new world is born to   
replace the young. Currently my world is on the verge of dying, it   
only have a few thousands years to live, but we just got the chance to   
survive our world by stealing yours and we won't waste it. You'd do   
the same at my place I'm sure." The beast told then, smirking.  
  
"You know that we'll stop you, don't you?" Shampoo warned it.  
  
"And you know that I can't let you live with what I told you? I'm a   
Demon Lord, you don't even stand a chance to scratch me!" The now   
revealed demon told them, igniting his hands in fire, ready to launch   
the quickly forming fireballs.  
  
"A demon? I should have known you were some insane evil beast. Well,   
you are going down, no mater what!" Ranma announced while pushing his   
power to it's limit, trying to reach the state of mind needed to   
trigger his transformation.  
  
Shampoo readied her bomboris and took her place at Ranma side,   
powering up as much as possible.  
  
Sensing his opponent power levels reaching their maximums, the demon   
smirked.  
  
{All too easy. I didn't have this much fun for a long time.} it   
thought while smirking at his 'preys'.  
  
---  
  
Still trying to sneak into the demon camp, the other two amazons felt   
their friends auras growing and getting ready for a all-or-nothing   
battle.  
  
"Darn, if they are powering up that much, then they must be in it   
deep! They must have found something." Akane told Ryoga.  
  
"Or something found them. We need to help them, you feeling up to fly   
full power to there?" Ryoga asked her back.  
  
"Seem we don't really have a choice anymore!" She shouted while taking   
to the air, increasing her power and speed as much as possible,   
quickly followed by the other amazon.  
  
---  
  
Two rivers of flames where battling each other. Shampoo was sweating   
bullets while she focused as much power in her flames as possible, but   
it was doing her no good. The demon's own fire was slowly but clearly   
overwhelming hers, and he even looked like he was not truly trying.  
  
"Ranma. I'm sorry, but... I can't... keep... it... up..." she took a   
last look at her friend bloodied form laying on the ground bellow.   
Ranma was beat so easily. {How can it be that strong! We cannot lose!   
Not now! We must at least tell the others... so they can get ready...}   
The flames were getting nearer her each passing second. {Please,   
someone!} she shouted in her mind, praying for a miracle.  
  
"SHISHI HOKODAN !!" a massive greenish light was her reward, her wish   
had been granted. Letting go of her flames, she started to fall toward   
the ground, too tired to even stay floating in the air, but Akane   
caught her before she crashed.  
  
Ryoga now faced the demon while Akane looked at Shampoo and Ranma.  
  
Sadly, the demon wasn't even bruised by the blast and it glared at   
Ryoga, his eyes promising pain in an insane quantity.   
  
Ryoga gulped seeing this, it had beat both Ranma and Shampoo at once.  
  
{I hope I can slow it down just enough for Akane to get Ranma and   
Shampoo up to fight again. Alone, I don't stand a snowball chance in   
hell!}   
  
---  
  
"Shampoo, can you heal Ranma if I give you some of my chi?" Akane   
asked the purple haired amazon.  
  
"I am nearly drained, but I can do it with your help, yes." The amazon   
answered, getting her breath back.  
  
Akane put a hand on Shampoo's shoulder and began the chi transfer.   
Shampoo got some color back on her face and then put her own hand on   
Ranma's torso, using part of Akane's chi to heal Ranma.  
  
It took them only a couple minutes to get ready again. Ranma had   
regenerated enough to fight again, but the three of them knew they   
wouldn't have another chance like that. It was now do or die!  
  
---  
  
Ryoga was covered in bruises. All in all, he was VERY happy to have   
undergone that hellish training with the big rocks. He was sure the   
Bakusai Tenketsu training was the only thing that made him so tough   
and kept him alive so long.  
  
Just as the demon was about to blast him with yet another fireball,   
the three other amazons returned to the fight, ready to help their   
friend.  
  
"Pff... You should have stayed down, your death would have been   
painless then. Well, now you'll regret it. A lot!" the demon shouted   
and fired his fireball at Ryoga, sending him flying down the ground.  
  
"Ranma, Akane, I need you to keep him at bay a few seconds. I think I   
can block his movements long enough for us to kill him, but I need   
time to gather the power to do so." Shampoo murmured to her two   
friends.  
  
"Let's rock!" shouted Ranma, flying toward this enemy at max speed.  
  
"We'll try." Akane replied the purple haired girl before dashing after   
Ranma.  
  
As Shampoo focused, Ranma and Akane tried to double team the demon,   
but he was so damn fast and seemed invulnerable to the few hits they   
could get past his defense.  
  
Shampoo was guiding all her chi to her psychic powers, her mind was   
the strongest of the amazons, surely she could manage it. She was an   
amazon, a Waken even!   
  
"Aaarrrrgh!!" shouted the demon more in anger than in pain as it   
stopped moving suddenly. "How..." it looked around and saw Shampoo   
with her battle aura raised and growing slowly.   
  
"Yeah, Shampoo, you did it! Now it's payback time, ain't it, ugly?"   
Ranma smiled an evil grin before punting the demon to the ground where   
it crashed violently.  
  
The three amazons followed, Shampoo still keeping the demon from   
moving. Their reached the ground then Akane and Ranma hit the demon,   
again, and again, quickly joined by Ryoga who wanted a piece of the   
bastard, until the demon was only a puddle of blood on the ground.  
  
"Holy, it's still alive, even if barely. Time to put an end to your   
suffering!" Said Ryoga, gathering chi for a last blast.  
  
"Yeah, might as well make sure it dies." Added Ranma preparing his own   
blast.  
  
"SHISHI HOKODAN!!" "MOKO TAKABISHA!!" they both shouted at once,   
their double blast incinerating the bloody demon flesh until there   
wasn't even ashes to show it had been here at all.  
  
"Guys, the little fellow don't seem too happy we fried their boss."   
Akane warned her teammates, showing the approaching demons all around   
them.  
  
"Damn. We are done for this time." Ranma told his friends just before   
the demons charged.  
  
Being all very tired, the battle was pretty one sided. Ranma was still   
trying to find that power sleeping inside him, he could barely touch   
it but not grasp it like he wanted too.  
  
Shampoo was the first to bit the dirt, her use of her psychic powers   
to hold the Demon Lord down had drained her more than she let appear   
to, but she was a proud amazon and didn't want to show weakness.  
  
Then it was Akane turn, she was sent flying hard into a ruined wall   
still standing up after Civa's Apocalypse. Their number reduced to   
half, the two amazons boys were getting despaired. A feeling that   
Ryoga knew all well, being his focus for his chi blast.  
  
This time however, it wasn't a chi blast that Ryoga triggered by his   
darkest feeling.  
  
"AKANE !! NOOO !! YOU'LL PAY !! DIIIIEEEEE !!!" Ryoga shouted, his   
rage building as well. His aura was growing stronger while the lost   
boy focused all his rage to boost his power.  
  
"UUUUWAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" With a final shout, both his aura and hairs   
turned golden while his eyes went blue-green. Letting his rage get the   
better of him, he began killing demon after demon. Mercy was a word   
unknown to him in this state of mind.  
  
Ranma, seeing that Ryoga succeeded where he had failed today, put some   
space between him and his berserker friend, just in case Ryoga   
couldn't dissociate enemies from allies anymore. He had two teammates   
out cold and he needed to check on them. Yeah, that was it!  
  
---  
  
A few minutes later, Ryoga had calmed enough to get his cool back, his   
hairs still gold. He felt that Ranma was with the girls and he went to   
meet them on the ground.  
  
"Ranma!" he called. "Are they...?"  
  
"They will be fine, just lots of bruises. Congrats!" Ranma told him.  
  
"Hu? What for?" asked Ryoga, not understanding why Ranma would   
congratulate him for. {Why don't I remember how I got there? I fell so   
strong... and where that rage come from?} thought the lost boy.  
  
"You didn't even notice, did you? You just broke the damn first seal   
of power, like I did not so long ago. And you got the demons good,   
too. Do I need another reason to praise you?" Ranma told him,   
surprisingly very sober about this Ryoga noted.  
  
"I... I did? Wow...But how come you didn't use that power yourself?   
You broke that seal already, didn't you?" Ryoga asked his rival.  
  
"I tried... but it just wouldn't break again. I couldn't get enough   
time to train to master it, yet. I'll get the hang of it, I just need   
more time, that's all. As you will too." Ranma explained.  
  
"Yeah, let's just get the hell out of here before we get more demons   
wanting to finish us." Ryoga told, grabbing Akane while Ranma got   
Shampoo.  
  
---  
  
They safely got to the amazon camp and explained what they saw and   
learned while the girls were cared after.  
  
Soon at full health again but still with highly depleted chi reserves,   
the Elites went to get back home to start planning the defense against   
the demonic invasion.  
  
While flying toward the west to get their boat on the USA's west   
coast, Ranma was mesmerized by his power's increase. It was like   
breaking the seal had allowed his potential to grow too. But what was   
worrying him was the growing feeling that something wasn't right...   
like he was feeling something that shouldn't... couldn't be.  
  
"Guys... I... I don't know what, but I got a feeling, and I always   
listen to them... Something is not right... I..." he tried to explain   
to his friends but his face was growing more and more worried by each   
passing second.  
  
"What do you have?" "DO you feel a danger somewhere?" asked the other   
amazons.  
  
"Maybe... I don't..." but in a sudden flash of light, he disappeared   
without finishing his sentence, letting his teammates to worry about   
him.  
  
---  
  
He was disoriented. Where was he? And how the hell did he do that?   
Teleportation? A new ability maybe? Looking around him, he noticed he   
was in some sort of Greek-like palace and facing a short brown haired   
woman. Ranma fell to his knees seeing her.  
  
But it wasn't her shortness that made him to kneel like that. Not at   
all. Her power level on the other side. She was easily equal to Ma   
Yuan or Civa!! How the hell could the amazons have missed her for so   
long and why didn't she showed up to help or try to stop the Tyrant.  
  
"Because I didn't feel like it!" She said aloud, answering his silent   
question.  
  
Realizing that she talked to him, and even answered to his very   
thoughts, Ranma couldn't keep silent anymore. But his very soul was   
telling him that etiquette w as more than needed here.  
  
"I'm sorry I came uninvited, but to tell the truth I don't even know   
how I got here." He explained, scratching the back of his head.  
  
"You teleported like you already deduced yourself. I'm surprised to   
see that there are still strong Wakens like you. I thought that they   
all disappeared long ago. Only a few Gods like myself were left a   
couple millennia ago and we all went our own way." She explained.  
  
"You... You are a God? Were Ma Yuan and Civa Gods too?" asked a taken   
aback Ranma.  
  
"Don't you DARE compared these two to me!!" She suddenly roared. "I'm   
a Goddess! Civa was just a fool and a student... He was still a long   
way to bloom into full Godhood. As for My Yuan... THE BASTARD WAS THE   
ONE TO KILL MOST OF THE GODS! Without that fool, Civa wouldn't have   
used his Apocalypse that broke all contacts from others worlds!" She   
calmed down while talking after her little outburst.  
  
"I'm sorry... It's just that they were so powerful... Almost like   
you... They DID break the third seal while fighting each others a few   
months ago." Ranma told her.  
  
"I know, I felt them from here. It's a good thing that they are now   
both dead. I'd have killed the winner after the fight since he'd have   
been too drained to be able to fight me. But you still haven't told me   
your name, young one." The Goddess told him.  
  
Ranma slowly got back to his feet and bowed down.  
  
"My name is Ranma. I'm truly sorry not to have given my name before."  
  
"It's alright. You were distressed after your first teleportation.   
Like I already told you, I'm a Goddess and I had lots of names in the   
past. The one I use now was given to me by the Greeks not long before   
the closing of the gates. My name is Athena." She presented herself.  
  
Ranma quickly got to a knee and bowed his head before talking again.  
  
"My Goddess, have you heard about the Demons invading our world? They   
came from a black vortex where was the epicenter of Civa's Apocalypse.   
They plan to steal the Earth from us humans." He explained her.  
  
"I do know of them and am planning to stop them. But my followers are   
not strong enough to do it and I alone cannot be everywhere at once.   
Your arrival is perfect since you seem to be already fighting the   
blasted beasts." She told him with a glint in her eyes.  
  
"We just got our freedom again after Ma Yuan's death. We won't let   
ourselves be stripped from our freedom just after we got it back. We   
lost too much to let that happen without fighting!" Ranma exclaimed,   
showing her that he meant each word he said.  
  
"If you agree to become my warrior, I could help you get even more   
powerful than you are now. I felt your power several months ago when   
you first broke the first seal, and also when your friend did it today   
too. Yours amazons are perfect candidates to rebuild my troops to   
fight against the demons."  
  
"The Amazons are a proud people. I'll tell them about you but I'm not   
sure they will accept to be your soldiers, even if it's to fight the   
demons. But we sure could use your help. But what did you mean when   
you said you could make me stronger?" he asked.  
  
"Not only you but every amazon. I can give a small part of my power to   
someone and make him or her stronger. The ritual link that someone to me and   
make him or her forever my soldier."  
  
"Forever? That's a bit much to pay for a power boost!" Ranma   
exclaimed, not being able to keep silent.  
  
"You may think so but my soldiers do have free will. They cannot harm   
me in any way and they feel obligated to come when I call them, for   
they know I don't call them without a reason. But you must accept the   
pact knowingly or the ritual won't work anyway. I'll give you some   
time to explain to your friends. The invasion is still at it's first   
stage and we are not in a hurry, yet." Athena explained to Ranma.  
  
"Thank you, my Goddess... hu... how do I teleport back to where I   
was?" Ranma asked, sounding apologizing for not knowing that.  
  
"No need to be shy about it, you just got that ability. Just think of   
the ones you want to be with and you'll teleport to them." The Goddess   
instructed the young pigtailed amazon. She smiled when she saw his   
disappear in a flash a few seconds later.  
  
{Well, he seems to learn quickly. I hope he accepts the pact, I could   
use someone like him!} She mused before starting to prepare for the   
invasion.  
  
---  
  
"Wow... that'll sure need some time to get used to!" Ranma said aloud   
after teleporting on a boat.  
  
"Ranma? Where were you and how did you appear and disappear like   
that?" Asked Akane after the surprise of his appearance was gone.  
  
"Hey, guys! You'll never believe what happened to me!" He said, nearly   
dancing with trepidation. Seeing that they weren't sharing his joy, he   
started to tell them. "I met a Goddess!! She even stronger than was Ma   
Yuan!! And she'll help us against the demons! She can make us stronger   
too if we accept to help her when she need it!!" He didn't notice it   
but he was starting to babble, giving information without any logic to it.  
  
Akane & Shampoo looked at him like he had grown a second head.   
  
{A Goddess?} was their mutual thought.  
  
"By the way, where's Ryoga?" Ranma asked his fellow amazons.  
  
---  
End of Chapter 6 


End file.
